Change for Tony
by bookwormgirl382
Summary: Something big changes for Tony. 2nd story in my Gabriella Universe.
1. Chapter 1

Tony DiNozzo sat at his desk in the squad room of NCIS. Team Gibbs had just finished a murder investigation and they are working on the paperwork. It had been a really long week all the way through. They had finally caught the bad guy, a 24 year-old Marine. He had killed three people before being caught.

Tony is late picking up Gabriella for dinner. He now had visiation with her every other weekend and then dinner on Wednesday night on the off week. At least he'd remembered to call Jeanne to tell her that he would be a bit lat. Tony was almost finished with his report, so it wouldn't be long before he would see his daughter. It had been two years since he had first met her and he couldn't imagine his life without her now. Jeanne had told him that she had a date scheduled that night and asked him to keep her overnight and take her to school the next morning. Tony had cleared that with Gibbs since he would have to come in a bit late because of it.

Jethro watches his agent work furiously to finish his work. He would have allowed him to finish it the next day if Tony had asked, but his Senior Field Agent hadn't said a word about it. Jethro shakes his head.

Fifteen minutes later, Tony finally finished his work. He picks up his backpack and gets ready to leave. He places his report on Jethro's desk. "Can I go now? I'm already late picking up Gabriella." Tony says respectfully. He figures it would probably be okay, but doesn't want to have to worry about being yelled at for leaving without permission.

Jethro simply nods his head smiling. He had become Uncle Gibbs to the little girl soon after meeting her. He'd been the one to carry her out of the warehouse where she had been held by a Mexican thug after being kidnapped. He loved having children around again including Abby and Tim's two little girls. He still misses Kelly all the time but these three girls make it a little easier to bear.

Tony heads out and drives the twelve blocks to Jeanne's apartment quickly. He is certainly glad that he remembered to call her andwarn her about being late. He speeds along not wanting Jeanne to get any more upset that she would already be. Being nearly an hour late, Tony knows Jeanne won't be happy with him anyway, but who know how she would feel if he hadn't called. Tony goes up to the door and rang the doorbell.  
Jeanne sighs with relief when she hears the doorbell ring. She'd been worried that she would have to cancel her date tonight, because she'd half expected him not to make it at all. He had not been able to pick Gabriella up twice before under similar circumstances. He'd always called though. She appreciates that. She understands Tony is occasionally unable to leave work at a normal time. Being a cop is a difficult job and sometimes required long hours.

"Good evening, Jeanne. I am sorry that I am late," Tony said as she opens the door for him. Gabriella is standing next to her. She's wearing jeans, and a pink sweater. She had her uniform on a hangar and a small bag containing her other necessities. She also had her bookbag. Gabriella is pretty much all set for her evening with her father. She had finished her homework earlier so she could just enjoy her evening with her Dad.

Tony and Gabriella are out the door a few minutes later. Jeanne calls her date to tell him that she is ready.

Tony drives them to Market Street Pizza, a favorite restaurant. Gabriella loves being with her dad and loves eating out with him. He is easy to talk to. Tony is constantly making her laugh. After getting in trouble at school today, Gabriella feels lucky to have been allowed to go with her dad at all. Jeanne had considered grounding her, but in the end let her off with a warning. She had passed a note in Spanish class. Fortunately, this was a first such offence, so her Mum had been more understanding. Gabriella quickly finds herself confiding in her Dad about this as well. While she didn't want him to be mad at her, Gabriella also didn't want to hide things from him.

Tony finds it difficult to keep a straight face. He had pulled so many stunts in school when he was her age, that this was mild in comparison. He knows Jeanne probably expects him to say something, but since she hadn't said anything, she probably didn't expect him to really do anything. It would be irresponsible for him to laugh at this point he knows.

"Let me ask you this, Gabriella. Do you plan to do this ever again?" Tony asks his daughter sternly, hoping that she will answer correctly.

"No, sir. I won't," Gabriella said looking down at her pizza.

"Good, because if it does, I won't be any happy and I'm sure your mom won't either," Tony said. He knows that she is being earnest with him.

Gabriella nods her head hoping he won't be upset with her the whole night. That would be horrible.

"All right then, we won't have another word on the subject unless it happens again," Tony softened his tone now. He feels he had done his duty as a father by speaking with her about it. Since it was relatively minor, he didn't think he needed to make a huge deal about it, especially since Jeann hadn't either.

Gabriella finally looks up relieved. She had been a little worried about what he would say about it. She knew it had been foolish to do it, but her friend, Olivia had sent her one just minutes before and had not been cuaght. She'd wanted to answer and had gotten caught. Gabriella was now determined that she should tell her frends that she didn't want to be passed notes.

The rest of dinner was nice and quiet. Tony really enjoys the time he gets to spend with his daughter. He's glad that she had finished her homework already since he had been late picking her up. She would need to be in bed at 9:00 according to Jeanne's school night rules. Tony felt that was fair for a twelve year old. He didn't mind the fact that Jeanne expected him to keep that on the rare occasion that Gabriella spent the night on a school night. She was much more flexible on the weekends Tony had her though. They often stayed up until 11:00 or later. Gabriella is always in bed by midnight though.

Tony and Gabriella arrive back at Tony's apartment. Gabriella heads to the shower to take a quick one. She usually takes hers at night since her school, Willow Brook Academy, starts a bit earlier than a lot of school, 7:45. They also got out at 2:30 though. Gabriella is a morning person so she doesn't mind it so much. She loves to sleep in whenever possible though. She does that a lot on weelkends

Gabriella settles in her room with a book, Little House on the Prairie. She enjoys the Little House books very much. She has about an hour before bedtime and she likes to relax in bed with a good book before bed.

Tony shakes his head, knowing the Gabriella didn't get her love of books from him. "Must be from Jeanne," he thought. He goes into the family room and turns on the television. He watches the time carefully knowing that his daughter would need to be tucked in and the lights turned off on time.

After Gabriella is finally asleep, Tony goes to his room and pops in a DVD, The Hunt For Red October. At about 11:00, there's a knock on the door. Tony heads toward it hoping it won't wake up Gabriella.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. Forgot to put this on Ch. 1 but this is meant for that as well.

Tony gets up and walks to the front door of his apartment to see who would be knocking on the door at eleven o'clock at night. He hopes that it isn't Gibbs needing him to go into work which didn't happen very often. Unbeknown to him, Tony's life is about to change forever.

Police officers Thomas Jackson and Micheal Bauer are standing outside waiting for Tony to come to the door. They have just come from the scene of a car accident and have bad news to break to Tony.

Tony looks throught he peephole. He's completely surprised ot see Metro PD.

"Mr. Anthony DiNozzo Jr.," Micheal says. He hates this type of call. It's one of the worst parts of his job, informing people that their loved ones are dead.

"Yes?" Tony says not bothering to correct them about him being a federal agent. He figures now is not the time.

"I'm afraid we have some bad news for you. Miss Jeanne Benoit was in a car accient this evening and she didn't make it. She listed you as her emergency contact in Washington," Thomas says.

Tony is shocked to say the least. He certainly hadn't been expectting that. He had half expected to hear the news that something had happened to his father. Senior hadn't been looking too good the last time Tony had seen him.

Ten minutes later, the police officers leave after having confirmed that Gabriella is with him. Tony can't help be feel a little relief that Jeanne had made him Gabriella's gaurdian should anything happen to her. Jeanne had discussed it with him about a year and a half ago and had shown him her will. Her only request was that Tony would make sure that Jeanne's mother, Isabella got to see Gabriella sometimes. Tony had readily agreed. Isabella hadn't been aware of her ex's illegal activities so Tony knows that it would be the best thing for Gabriella.

Tony picks up his cell phone. He needs some help. After all, breaking the news to Gabriella would be the hardest thing he would ever have to do.

"Yeah, Gibbs," Jethro says as he wakes up groggily. He had been asleep for about an hour and a half. It had been a long week for him.

"Boss, I just had a visit from Metro Police. Jeanne's been killed in a car accident," Tony said in a somewhat soft voice. He doesn't want to wake Gabriella up yet. He needs a chance to figure out how the heck he was going to tell his daughter that she'd lost her mother. That had been one conversation

Tony had thought wouldn't happen at least not for about fifty years.

Jethro sat up quickly in bed. He certainly hadn't expected to hear that. If anything, he was expecting. "I'll be right there," he says as he stands up to get dressed. He hangs up the phone knowing that his senior field agent needs him right now.

Meanwhile, Tony makes similar calls to Ziva and Tim. They immediately head to Tony's apartment in order to be there for him and Gabriella.

Tony decides to wait for his teammates before waking Gabriella up. It would be difficutlt enough to tell her that her mother is dead. He would need the emotional support that his friends would give him while he did that. He sank into his recliner, a recent purchase. He loves the thing, spending a few minutes just thinking about what he was going to say to his daughter.

Five minutes after Tony's call, Ziva and Jethro arrive at about the same time. Tim is a bit further behind them, not having the crazy driving skills the other two seem to possess. Tony opens the door for everyone and invites them in. The looks on his teammates' faces are as grim as his own.

"I need to go wake up Gabriella and tell her. I'm just not sure how I am going to be able to do it," Tony said.

Jethro just places a hand on his senior agent's shoulder. He knew that this will be extremely hard for Tony. Jethro is glad that Tony had called him. Jethro had been very involved in Gabriella's life since he had been the one to carry her out of the warehouse when she had been kidnapped.

Tony heads into his daughter's bedroom. Gabriella is sleeping peacefully curled up into a ball on her side. Tony knows he is about to break her heart in a few moments. Nothing in his past could have prepared him for having to do this with his own daughter.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Same as Ch. 2

Ch. 3

Gabriella wakes up to see her Daddy sitting on the end of her bed. She had heard him call her name. She realizes that it is still nighttime due to the fact that the room is still really dark. She is unsure as to why her Daddy would wake her up in the middle of the night. This scares Gabriella a bit.

"What's going on?" she asks her father.

"I have something to tell you, sweetie. I think maybe we should go into the family room though," Tony says to his daughter. He gave his daughter his hand to help her out of bed. He notices that Gabriella looks puzzled. He can't blame her one bit.

Gabriella gets out of bed and follows Tony out of her bedroom. Her confusion seems to multiply when she seen Jethro, Ziva and Tim. She knows this can't be good if they're there as well as it being the middle of the night. She has a feeling that her life is about to change forever. She just doesn't know how true that really is.

Tony leads his daughter over to the leather couch. They both sit daown. He pulls her in his arms, knowing that as soon as he tells her, she will need his comfort. "Gabriella, I got a call a little while ago. I have some really bad news for you. Your Mom was in a car accident. She was killed pretty much instantaneously," Tony tells her figuring the direct approach would probably be the best way to do this.

Gabriella immediately burst into tears. She hadn't been expectting this at all. She'd just seen her mother a few hours before and now Jeanne was dead. Gabriella doesn't know what will happen to her. Jeanne had never told her that she had made Tony her guardian in case something should happen to her. After all, Jeanne had never really expected anything to happen. Putting it in her will had just been a precaution in case something should happen.

Jethro heads over to the couch and sits on the other side of Gabriella and puts his arms around her as well. Tony throws him a grateful look over Gabriella's head. Tony is glad that the two of them have such a great support system. Tim and Ziva are kneeling in front of them trying to help. Gabriella is feeling as though her entire world has come crashing down around her. She'd spent most of her life not even knowing her father. Having met him was the best thing that had ever happened to her in spite of the way it had happened.

Abby soon arrives. She had had to arrange a sitter for Fiona and Natalie before she could come. Gabriella barely notices her arrival in her state. She's not quite at hysteria level, but it is pretty close. Ziva quietly goes into the bathroom and grabs some Kleenex. Tony gives her a grateful nod. He hadn't even managed to consider that as of yet.

After what seems like hours, Gabriella finally calms down. In all actuality, it had only been about fifteen minutes. Everyone else had just been doing their best to comfort the young girl. Losing you Mum at such a young age couldn't be easy. Ziva could empathize with the young girl. Her mother had died when she was nine. That had been really hard for her to deal with. She knows that at least Tony wouldn't be like her dad. Having cut off contact with Eli several years ago, Ziva is glad that as far as anyone can see, there is no reason for Gabriella and her Dad to end up like that.

"How ya doin' Kiddo?" Jethro asked her. He's glad that she is no longer sobbing quite as hard as she had been. It reminded him too much of Kelly.

"Not so good Uncle Gibbs," Gabriella said honestly. Under ordinary circumstances, Jethro would have been thrilled to hear her call him that. She had been doing it practically since the day he had rescued her from her kidnappers. They had become close. He is now like a surrogate grandfather to the girl.

Gibbs simply continues soothing the young girl. He wouldn't wish this sort of pain on anyone, especially a child.

After an hour, Gabriella is willing to go back to bed as long as her bedroom door will be left open and the hallway light left on. Tony is more than willing to do that. He knows that he'll be checking on her several times in the next few hours. He will now become a full time dad. That is a heady responsibility. In addition to that, he will have to help her through her grief at the death of her mother.

Finally, Tony realizes that he needs to call Jeanne's mother, which he does. She is as devastated as Gabriella. Tony informs the woman that he will handle the arrangements from here if that is what she wants. Jeanne had a life insurance policy that would pay for the funeral and the rest along with whatever money Jeanne had left would go into a trust for Gabriella. She would get the money when she turned 26.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I've updated but I was in Florida on vacation last week and

didn't have my computer with me. Had a blast. It was nice hanging out with all my family like that. I

will try to update soon.

Disclaimer: Same as Ch. 2

Three days later, Tony wakes up at 7:00. Today is the day of Jeanne's funeral. Gabriella is still asleep. She will be up soon. As griefstriken as she is, Gabriella has always been an early morning person. It doesn't help that her school started earlier than most.

Tony takes out the black suit and dark green tie that he plans to wear today out of his closet. He has had a hard time with all of this. He had been in love with Jeanne at one time and still cared for her in a way. Tony had also had difficutly comforting his little girl. He's been doing his best of course, but it's been difficult.

Gabriella wakes to the sound of her Dad starting the shower. As sad as she is, Gabriella is happy that she had someone to take care of her. It's hard to believe that two years ago, she hadn't known her father at all.

Gabriella gets up and heads to her bathroom. After about ten minutes, Gabriella gets out of the shower and starts getting dressed. Her dress is a dark green. It is a pretty simple dress. She blow dries her long brown curls and then puts it into a French Braid. She then brushes her teeth. She's not hurngry this morning. She really hadn't eaten much in the last few days. Her life had been turn upside down and it is really hard for her to do anything but cry.

Tony is fixing breakfast, French toast, bacon and milk. It is Gabriella's favorite breakfast and he wants her to eat. He's certainly noticed that his daughter hasn't been eating as much the last few days and hopes to entice her with this meal. Today would be hard enough for the poor girl without her being hungry on top of everything.

Gabriella comes downstairs fully dressed and ready to go. The wake the night before had been very difficult for her and she knows that today will be even more difficutlt. She is already about ready to cry and she knows it will just get worse as the day goes on. She doesn't really feel like eating, but Gabriella knows that her dad will expect her to eat something. She just hopes she won't throw it up later. That would be humiliating for her.

Tony passes his daughter a plate with a single piece of French toast and four pieces of bacon. He doesn't want to give her too much to start with. If she ends up wanting more, she can have it of course. Tony just feels that she will feel that he expects her to finish her breakfast either way, so he figures this is the best way to handle things.

Gabriella picks up the syrup and puts quite a bit on her French toast. She likes her sweets. She hopes it will make her feel a bit better.  
Finally, breakfast is over and it is nearly time to leave for the funeral. Gabriella has been feeling as though her world has been turned upside down in the last few days, but is glad that she had her father. Otherwise, she could have ended up is foster care if her grandmother hadn't wanted to care for her. It is a huge weight off her shoulders to have someone to take care of her.

Tony and Gabriella leave for the funeral at 9:30. It will be a simple service and burial at one of the local Catholic churches and then the ladies from the church were having a dinner afterward for all of the mourners. Gabriella is nervous and scared with everything that has changed in her life. She hates the thought of having to say goodbye to her mother for the final time. The traditional funeral Mass seems to drag on for Gabriella. She knows that this day will be long either way anyway. Gabriella and Jeanne had started going to Mass on a regular basis a few months ago and Gabriella enjoyed it for the most part.

Tony, who hadn't been to church for many years had made the decision to have the funeral this way in honor of the woman he had once loved. He knows that she deserves it.

The burial service was short. Tony had had a nice headstone made, but it isn't up yet. It will be in the next week or so though.

That night, Tony tucks his daughter into bed. It had been a long hard day for the both of them. Tony knows being a full time parent will take some getting used to but he looks forward tot he challenge. He just wishes that it hadn't been under such devastating circumstances. Gabriella didn't deserve to lose her mother at such a young age.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

Disclaimer: Same as Ch. 2

Author's Note: Please read and review

Gabriella wakes up at 6:00 am three days after her mother's funeral. It would be her first day back at school. Willowbrook Academy had made provisions for her to miss several days of school so she had time to adjust to the situation before she had to deal with school. Gabriella had done the schoolwork that her father had picked up for her during this period of time in spite of the fact that she hadn't truly felt like doing it. She didn't want to be too far behind her class when she returned and was determined to make certain that didn't happen. Tony is very proud of the way Gabriella had handled the situation. She had been crying a lot especially in the evenings, but seemed to be doing okay. Tony had already made arrangements to be allowed to leave work to pick her up from school early if it became necessary.

Gabriella dresses in her uniform and then brushes her hair and pulls it back into a ponytail. She isn't in the mood for anything fancy. She grabs her backpack from the back of her desk chair. Tony had told her that if she wants to redo her bedroom with her furniture from her Mom's house she could. The stuff he'd put in there had been secondhand anyway. He could always sell it if that's what Gabriella wanted. He wants her to be as comfortable as possible in her new home. She heads downstairs for breakfast.

Tony is up as well. He is nearly ready for work himself. He is making pancakes and bacon. He wants her to have a good breakfast to start her day today. Ordinarily, she would have cereal or Poptarts on school mornings, but Tony felt it was a good idea to cook her breakfast this morning to help her face the day.

Soon Gabriella has eaten her breakfast is is all ready for school. Her nerves about how her classmates will treat her is obvious to Tony. He had had a long discussion with Mrs. Kathleen Thompson, the headmistress of his daughter's school. Mrs. Thompseon had reassured him that Gabriella's teacher, Miss Veronica Jacobs would keep an eye on her for at least several days. Tony had been extremely relieved to hear this.

Gabriella is finally ready for school. Tony is ready for work as well. They head outside to Tony's SUV. Tony hopes his daughter will be able to handle this. He knew what it felt like to lose a mother at a young age and had hoped that his daughter would never have to experience that, but then Jeanne had been in the car accident and things had fallen apart. Tony is just glad he will be there for his daughter.

Gabriella heads to her classroom when her father drops her off at school. It was about ten minutes before classes were to start. She prefers being early rather thatn exactly on time. It makes her nervous otherwise and today especially.

Miss Jacobs sits at her desk at the front of the classroom as her students are trickling in one by one. She sees Gabriella and gives her a reassuring smile. Miss Jacobs would welcome her back at the beginning of class. She watches as her class come into the room to begin the new day. By the time class starts, all but three students, Lindsey Ryan, Elizabeth Thompson and Katherine Rebinson were there.

Gabriella quickly unpacks her bookbag and sits at her desk. Her friends, Annabelle Lawrence, Bethany Johnston, and Miranda Compton are sitting near her. Olivia Jackson is several seats away. Gabriella greets them quietly as she waits for the beginning of class. Normally, she would be chatting it up with her friends until the last possible moment, but today is not the day for that. She is still struggling to come to terms with what had happened to her mother and now she was back in school. Her father had been insistent that it was important that she get back to as normal of a routine as she possibly could under the circumstances. It is hard for Gabriella to imagine, but she can understand why her Dad wants her to try.

Lunchtime recess came. Gabriella heads out to the schoolyard. Her schoolmates are heading to various areas to play a variety of games. Gabriella doesn't really feel like doing anything. Her friends convince her to at least sit on the sidelines of the basketball court where they will be playing. Gabriella had reluctantly agreed knowing that she didn't want to keep her friends from having fun during their break even if she wasn't going to.  
After about ten minutes, Melanie Chambers, who is one of the bullies at the school, comes over to her. The teachers hadn't been able to catch Melanie at it unfortunately. She usually did it before or after school. "Hey orphan girl," Melanie said.

"I'm not an orphan. I still have my Daddy," Gabriella says vehemently. She realizes she should have known this was coming. Melanie likes to pick on anyone who has even the slightest weakness.

"I don't care. You're still orphan girl," Melanie practically shouts at her.

Gabriella could hardly believe that even Melanie would treat her like this. She's known that Melanie could be cruel to her schoolmates, but this went far beyond that. Gabriella wishes she could do something drastic such as punch Melanie in the face, but she knows that not only would the school not approve of her handling it that way. Gabriella's friends seem to be wrapped up in their basketball game. Gabriella decides to walk away.

Melanie is having none of it. She doesn't give up easily once she hones in on a target, especially one as vulnerable as Gabriella currently is. She steps in front of the younger girl to block her from leaving.

Gabriella is desperate to get away as Melanie continues to tease her. Gabriella desperately tries to find some way to get away from the other girl, but it seems to be impossible. After a bit, with Gabriella continually trying to get away, her friends notice a problem. Lilly Marshall runs to get the playground supervisor while the rest of the group run over to rescue Gabriella from Melanie. Melanie is having none of it though. She is determined to continue this despite the fact that she can see Gabriella friends have noticed what was going on.

The playground supervisor is coming towards them, but Gabriella doesn't see her. She's had enough of Melanie's crap and slaps her in the face.

TBC

Author's Note: Sorry this has been so long in coming but I've had some writer's block.

I got some good news last night. My brother is now engaged to a wonderful girl. She fits in well with our family. I am so excited!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS

Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to update. Hopefully this is worth the wait. Please read and review.

Ch. 6

Gabriella sits in her bedroom nervous about what her father is going to say. She feels lucky not to have been suspended from school for the fight she'd been in. She's well aware that it's a common punishment for fighting. She received two days after school detention instead. She knows that the fact that she'd been extremely provoked by Melanie into hitting her coupled with the fact that she hadn't been able to get away in spite of trying had probably saved her from that. Melanie had been suspended for six days for bullying.

Tony stands at the stove making spaghetti. He isn't sure what to do with his daughter. He knows she's been through a lot in the last week or so, but he feels he shouldn't condone violence.. He knows he should impose some sort of punishment, but he isn't sure what exactly. He hasn't really ever had to deal with such a thing before.

Finally, dinner is done. Tony puts the spaghetti in serving bowls and places the garlic bread on a plate and the salad bowl on the table.

"Gabriella, dinner is ready," Tony calls his daughter. He had absolutely no intention of sending her to bed without supper. That would be cruel. He might be upset with her, but not enough to deny her food. He wold never do that to her.

Gabriella wipes the tears she's been shedding from her eyes and heads to the kitchen. She is glad that he isn't going to make her go to bed before she ate. Her mother had done that once when Gabriella decided to refuse to eat whatever ever it was she'd fixed. She had no desire to repeat the experience.

Dinner is mostly a silent affair tonight. Gabriella is uncertain about what to say and Tony is deep in thought. He does give his daughter a reassuring look every so often though. After about fifteen minutes, Tony sends her upstairs after she has cleared her plate. Gabriella immediately obeys knowing that to refuse would just bring more trouble down on her.

A half an hour later, Tony heads upstairs. He finally figured out what he needs to do. He isn't as upset as he could be, but he is being as understanding as possible in this situation. Tony knows that she's grieving her mother's death and that had made her more emotional than usual.

Gabriella hears a knock on her bedroom door. "Come in, Daddy," she says shakily. She's been crying again. That's happened a lot lately it seems like. It was a combination of everything in her life that had happened lately that had her so upset tonight. Gabriella knows that while her Dad might be upset with her, he will always love her. That helped a lot in this situation. She knows that he won't send her away.

Tony sits on the edge of her bed with a somewhat stern look on his face. "Gabriella, I first of all want you to know that I love you and nothing is going to change that. I know that today's incident was mostly not your fault. Melanie shouldn't have been bullying you. Still, I can't condone you hitting her," Tony tells her feeling a little hypocritical under the circumstances. He knows he would have done the same thing in her shoes, probably more actually.

Gabriella nods her head. She's trying not to cry because she doesn't want her father to feel bad about having to punish her, but given that she'd been crying just a few moments before, that made it difficult. "Yes, sir," she says after a moment, feeling like she needs to say something.

"Here's what I've decided. You're grounded for two weeks. That means no friends over, no one is to come over here either, no music, no phone, and a half an hour early bedtime," Tony said. He knew Jeanne had varying degrees of grounding depending on the offense and this was pretty basic.

Gabriella looks relieved. She'd expected worse. She thought that most if not all of her privileges would be removed but this didn't seem so bad. She could handle it. It wouldn't be fun, but it wasn't supposed to be. "I understand sir," she said signifying that she understood what she wasn't allowed to do for the duration of her grounding.

"I think that maybe you should rest for the rest of the evening. I want you to finish your homework and then get ready for bed. You can read until it's actually a half an hour before you normal bedtime, but today had been a rough day. This really isn't part of your punishment. I just feel it's a good idea," Tony said.

Gabriella agrees with him wholeheartedly She does ask him to record her one television show that on tonight and he agrees to do so.

At 9:00, Tony heads upstairs to put her to bed. Surprisingly, she's already sound asleep. He tucks her in and says,"Good night, my little love. Sleep tight," Then he kisses her forehead and turns to leave the room. He shuts out the lights and closes the door.


End file.
